The invention relates generally to network engineering. More specifically, the invention relates to systems and methods that disassociate Internet Protocol (IP) route table growth from the ability of a router to offer IP services.
Today, network operators or Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are forced to periodically upgrade IP routing equipment to keep pace with their own internal growth as well as the rest of the Internet. Day by day, global Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing tables that comprise the Internet are constantly growing. This growth takes a toll on network equipment regarding memory to store routing tables and forwarding tables, and the processing power to create and maintain those tables.
Routers typically contain input ports, output ports, a specialized operating system, memory, and one or more processors. Distributed routers require memory for two purposes besides the operating system itself: storing a routing table which is used to perform routing decisions and program the forwarding table, and storing a forwarding table which is used when making forwarding decisions to forward packets out on particular interfaces.
These two functions are critical to the operation of any router employed on an IP network. Without sufficient memory, a router would be unable to properly forward packets. Due to Internet growth, network operators must upgrade their equipment to handle route growth and satisfy the above two purposes. This results in a cycle where equipment must be upgraded or replaced every 3 to 5 years. Furthermore, operators encounter scenarios where their hardware cannot be upgraded any further. This is due in part that when manufactured, there were technical limits prohibiting capacity expansion. For these cases, network operators have always been faced with replacing hardware.
Customer migrations are very complex and costly from the network operator point of view. Not only does additional hardware and capacity have to be ordered, but customers also must be notified of the inevitable service interruption. Lengthy migration strategies and tools must also be developed in order to move customers from one device to another. Additionally, to replace network hardware with state-of-the-art equipment includes major capital costs.
The challenge for network operators is to extend the operational life of their deployed networks and obviate the hardware upgrade/replacement cycle. In order to achieve this, a system and method is needed that allows a network operator to disassociate route table growth from the ability of a router to maintain service.